Life's enigma
by artemecia
Summary: A hardened Jack has made a life for herself without Riddick or Imam. What does she do when the man she thinks she loathes returns, and finds that she is the only one who can protect him? (Not quite sure where to take this... any ideas would be greatly app


**Chapter One**

"Ladies and gents, up next is the fight that I'm sure everybody here tonight has been waiting for; the Champion's Showdown!" The whole underground stadium vibrated as the crowds screamed, cheered and jumped in anticipation. On stage, the small mustached man waited patiently, holding up a hand to demand silence. Within a few moments, the arena was deathly quiet, all eyes on the tiny man in the center.

Clearing his throat, he spoke with great gusto into the microphone, "in the challenger's corner, we have a fighter who, in the span of ten months, has rapidly ascended through our ranks, challenging, fighting and winning against every single fighter ever pitted against her. The same time last year, we didn't even know her, but now, she's one of the strongest out there. Out to challenge our best of the best, our crème de la crème, is none other than ---- Jackie 'the Lynx' Lowell!"

A strong shaft of light blanketed a hunched figure in the corner of the ring. Emerald slit-like eyes glaring out at the audience, muscles taut, Jack flashed the audience a cheeky grin, baring fangs much like those of her namesake. Gliding gracefully to her feet, she stood next to the referee, towering him with her five foot ten frame. Her body was scantily covered with a black training bra and matching shorts, revealing a tattooed dragon encircling her arm, and another slithering up her left inner thigh. The sour and musty air immediately filled with cat calls and appreciative whistles, to all of which Jack replied with a roll of her eyes and her clawed middle finger.

After the furor died down a little, the referee cleared his throat a second time and continued with his speech, "in the other corner we have our champion for over three months and a hundred fights back to back. As most of you already know, tonight's fight will determine whether this combatant gains the record of 'Longest Champion' or allows his rival to gain the title 'Undefeatable Champion'. Standing on my right at an impressive six and a half feet, we have Mikey 'the Lightning' Farrell."

The spotlight slid from Jack to drench her opponent in a yellow glow. Mikey Farrell stood up, the true blond-haired, blue-eyed devil right down to the perfect set of straight white teeth that he now flashed on his adoring fans. Once again the atmosphere was filled with the deafening roars of approval and the stamping of thousands of feet.

Jack studied her opponent through apparently carefree eyes; her cat eyes, which let her see sharper, clearer images, regardless of night or day. Of course, it didn't allow her to see heat signatures that Riddick's shine job had allowed him to do. Nonetheless, they still had their benefits, they weren't photosensitive, they could focus or 'zoom' in on an object at will, and Jack could still see in color. Right now, they roamed lazily over Mikey's all-to-perfectly-lean toned body, trying to find some fault, some kind of weakness. Nothing. No scars, no bumps, no unevenness of any kind. Jack might as well have been looking at something carved out of stone. Finally, her eyes met his, and Mikey raised a perfect eyebrow and flashed her a flirtatious smile. She mentally smacked her lips; maybe she would do some horizontal wrestling with him later. He was her type, after all; tall, strong, handsome, and more importantly, not looking for attachment, just some fun. Jack grinned, yep, definitely her type. She returned his grin, then pursed her lips and raised her hand to blow him a kiss.

By this time, the balding referee had finished his little speech about 'fight until a KO'. He gestured for the two fighters to shake hands and get into their positions. Mikey grabbed the proffered hand and kissed it before taking a step back and falling into a boxing stance. Jack just rolled her eyes and stood, still as a statue, knees slightly bent and arms faced palm-out. The stadium buzzed with barely suppressed anticipation as the two fighters faced each other, neither letting any emotion slip through.

Just then, a loud siren blared, breaking the almost-tranquil silence. All the lights suddenly turned dark red, throwing lengthened shadows across the fighting arena. The duo circled each other, like predators eyeing their prey. Mikey moved first, placing a solid punch on Jack's jaw. _Shit_, she thought, _I barely even saw that!_ _Heh, now I know why they call him 'Lightning'. _Shaking her head, she berated herself, _Okay, I better start concentrating, I gotta win this. _She feigned a left swing, and then abruptly caught his open right side with an unyielding kick, knocking the air out of him. The two immediately backed off and began to walk around each other, scrutinizing for possible weaknesses. There were none.

The next ten minutes were spent giving testing jabs and hits, just to get the crowd going. The hype in the stadium was so potent you could almost taste it. Both suffered multiple bruises and swellings, but they were mostly all trivial injuries. As if being urged by an unknown force, both moved towards each other with a relentless impact, giving as good as they got. Mikey got a few good combinations in, cracking one of her ribs with a solid roundhouse kick. However, Jack was gaining the upper hand, jabbing then dancing out of the taller man's reach. Neither were slacking off, but they could feel the pain begin to sink in and slow their movements.

_ Okay, gotta end this soon. Goddamn it, it normally takes me five minutes for a KO!_ Jack grumbled in her mind. By this time, her opponent had a split lip, black eye and several already-visible bruises marring his body, and though she was less injured, she could already feel the adrenaline fading and agony shooting through her body. _I've got this, I've got it. I just need one good combo. _Noting that his left hand was slightly lower than it should have been, she finally saw her opening. _That's it, Jackie girl, just one more. All you gotta do is give him a whooper to his left rib, then go in for the kill. That's it, that's all. Come on!_

Simultaneously, as if they had read each other's thoughts, the two bodies blasted towards each other, their movements almost too fast to be seen. Jack could no longer hear the crowd, in fact, she could no longer hear anything; her mind had switched off. She was now going on pure instinct, letting her inner beast out like Riddick had taught her. Once she began her onslaught, raining blows everywhere on the other body, all the crowd saw was a blur; nobody could pick a hand or a foot out of the distortion that was Jack's body. Mikey barely even got a punch in before he saw the end coming. With an inhuman roar, Jack snarled and slipped past his defenses, got behind him and punched him swiftly at the base of his neck. Mikey's vision sparkled, blurred, and finally darkened. It was over.

There was a moment of utter silence in the stadium as the finality sunk in. Then the shrieking and yelling and jumping started, and it seemed like everybody went berserk. Throughout all the chaos, chants of 'Lynx! Lynx! Lynx!' echoed against the underground arena. Grinning triumphantly, Jack stood basking under the spotlight, holding one hand out in triumph. She'd done it, she'd won. As medics rushed to revive the downed fighter, she savored this moment, the moment that had made all her miseries over the past few years worth while. Without knowing what she was doing, Jack tossed her head back and let out a hair splitting victory howl. Then, as the frenzied crowd screamed their adulations for her, she slowly made her way out of the ring.


End file.
